| Session Date | April 10, 2021 |
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| Player Characters | |
| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
Knar's spell research nearing completion, the party decided it was almost time to depart the Dwarf city and find the dungeon they'd learned about in Castle Solen. First, though, Iban used his crystal ball to scry their six Dwarves, stuck in the now occupied town of Manston. Happily, he found that they were in the Dwarf tavern where they spent their off duty time, perhaps not happy looking, but otherwise unharmed. He next scried for Floi, finding the dwarf noble in a seedy, dingy and dark tavern somewhere within the Dwarf city. He asked Dimbul to quickly find him and let him know the party intended to leave soon and to see if he wished to go. Dimbul returned not much later with word that Floi had "business in the city" and wished the party good luck. Lastly, Iban scried Andurie the elf in command of those in Manston. He appeared to be in the elf enclave still, with a worried look but otherwise the same as they'd last seen him.
Lastly, Nali came to see them. He was clearly unhappy with the fact that human Manston had been conquered by the Giant King. However, he told them, his king still did not want to fight a "foreign" war and preferred to remain watchful. Indeed, they learned that an envoy from the Giant King (none other than Jarl Vostok the Frost Giant, whom they'd encountered a few times before). The Giant King had proclaimed his wish for peace with the Dwarves, and desired them to resume their former trade to distant human lands via Manston. The Dwarves were wary and had sent the emissary away without a solid answer. Nali also reported that the Elven kingdom had been sent a similar message, but had simply ignored it (the Elves would wait a century before answering, Nali told them). In any case, he requested that they pass any information they gleaned during their travels back to him and, of course, to take care of themselves! (Didn't mention it the other night but nobody saw the weird, evil old dwarf they'd seen at random times).
Paying their servants upkeep through the end of the year (it being the first of October, AKA Brightleaf), the party left the Dwarf city. Once outside, Amadin cast invisibility 10' radius on the entire party and they headed north on foot. The journey was uneventful and towards nightfall they reached the ancient Dwarf Road and the great Dwarven statues that flanked the road south to the Dwarf Kingdom. Observing for a short time, they noted hints of hidden movement in the area; the road to the Dwarves was being carefully watched by the Giant King. Passing along, they came near to Wethrim Town, now clearly occupied by a sizable force of the Giant King's humanoids.
The next day they began to follow the Dwarf Road to the east-northeast, coming shortly to a strong stone bridge. It was guarded by a force of bugbears commanded by a stone giant. Dimbul suggested he backstab it, but the party opted to instead slip past them, easily accomplished as they were not particularly watchful. Around midday they came to the old Underhill Tavern (the origin of several prisoners they'd rescued from Castle Solen). It, too, was under occupation, and they took some time to reconnoiter it for future reference (there were three giants and a sizable number of other humanoids present). Here, they turned north towards Castle Solen, crossing the Solen River shortly after dusk where they camped, protected by Iban's Leomund's Tiny Hut.
Bypassing Castle Solen, they soon were on the well-known track from Castle Solen to Durnton. Not long after, they encountered a group of six hill giants coming down the other way. The party briefly debated ambushing them (they were still invisible) but decided that drawing attention to this region would only make things more complicated later. They slipped off the trail and let the giants pass. They reached Durnton not long after. The village was utterly deserted and showed some signs of destruction beyond what the party recollected from the battle some months before. After a very long day's walk, they finally reached the edge of Grampen Wood after dark had fallen. On the plain in the distance they noted movement -- it was apparently that same spider cavalry they'd briefly encountered before. Fortunately, it was distant and they were able to easily slip into the dense woods where they camped once more.
Next morning, the party made their way further into the woodland, eventually coming to a sharp cliff, the northwestern edge of the Specter Ridge. They turned and followed this north until they ran into a swift stream flowing out fro the cliff face in a deep channel. The party long jumped the cleft and then went about 30' north of the stream and began to search the cliff face. It was not long before they found a secret door. Now, Iban levitated with his boots up to get the lay of the land, while Knar sent his raven to scout down the stream into the woods. Iban saw little except rising hills to the east and south, but the raven reported "three small figures." Dimbul tried to open it but could not seem to activate the mechanism. So, Knar cast knock and the door popped open (it apparently wizard locked).
The inside was off strange construction, with hexagonal flags, wall and ceiling stones. The area was rather dusty. Carved in the floor about 20' or so in was a large symbol seemingly of a person with upraised hands. ZZ cast find traps at this point, though he detected none as yet. The party now moved in cautiously but, as Mordecai and Iban crossed the symbol they felt a mild resistance and their hearts raced for a few moments; each began to feel slightly feverish afterwards, though not seriously so. Nobody else felt anything at all. The passage descended a short staircase into a long gallery. It was clearly built for defense, with a sunken floor, a battlemented balcony 20' above, murder holes in the ceiling,etc. Iban levitated up to look at the balcony and noted some doors, but it was otherwise deserted. At the far end was a stout steel door, with some rust on it. It proved too tough for anyone in the party to open (just about everyone tried it) so another knock spell was used. Before proceeding further, Amadin cast strength on Bel.
Beyond the steel door was a short passage leading to a 30 foot-square room. ZZ immediately noted a trap in the hall just before the room; there were three other entries to the room, each also with a pit trap. At the center of the room was a 7' tall statue of a woman facing west, wearing a headdress with hexagonal decorations and bees on it; she had an expressionless face and dead white eyes. The four corners of the room each contained what appeared to be a large stone bee hive statue of some sort. Iban entered first, skirting the pit trap. An intense buzzing began at this point, and soon a huge swarm of what appeared to be large stone bees erupted from the hives and attacked. They flew amidst the party, stinging with stone stingers, despite the fact they were all still invisible. The party simply fell back as fast as they could back into the long gallery, slamming the steel door shut behind them.
Here, Iban levitated up to the balcony and dropped a rope for the others to scramble up. They took a door to the south and came to a passage running east-west. They went east and skirted around the statuary-trap room, eventually coming to an open room lit by gaslight from small sconces. There were two cylinders of black stone reaching within three inches of the ceiling; each heavily carved with alternating rings of runes, rings of the same symbol they'd seen near the entrance with the face of the statues they'd just seen, and small frames depicting strange warriors marching in endless lines. At the northwestern end of the room was a statue of a warrior in weird and ornate platemail of ancient design and apparently of great majesty. The entirety of the walls of the room were carved with an endless line of text. Iban cast comprehend languages and was suddenly blasted and struck blind by what he read! As the party decided what to do with their blinded friend, Dimbul tried and succeeded at translating the runes (with a shake of his head wondering what the whole blindness thing was about). The text, he told them, seemed to be some sort of endless curse against the Lormyrrians and their (now dead) empire.
Not wishing to proceed with a blind man, the party retreated the way they'd come. When they came to the secret door, Mordecai dispelled the wizard lock. Outside, the party decided to go up the cliff to a more defensible position. They rested overnight and, in the morning, could smell woodsmoke. Dimbul was dispatched to investigate, while Mordecai was able to successfully cure blindness on Iban. Dimbul returned not loing after and reported that he'd found an encampment of Halflings, well hidden in the woods not far down the stream...